Abigail Campbell Kawānanakoa

Abigail Wahiʻikaʻahuʻula Campbell Kawānanakoa (January 1, 1882 – April 12, 1945) was a politician and Princess of Hawaii.

Abigail Campbell Kawānanakoa
Princess of Hawaiʻi
Born(1882-01-01)January 1, 1882
Honolulu, Kingdom of Hawaii
DiedApril 12, 1945(1945-04-12) (aged 63)
Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii
BurialApril 15, 1945
Mauna ʻAla Royal Mausoleum
SpouseDavid Kawānanakoa
IssueDavid Kalākaua Kawānanakoa
Abigail Kapiʻolani Kawānanakoa
Lydia Liliʻuokalani Kawānanakoa
HouseKawānanakoa
FatherJames Campbell
MotherAbigail Kuaihelani Maipinepine
ReligionRoman Catholicism,
(prev. Anglicanism)
OccupationPolitical leader

Life
In 1902, before her marriage

Abigail Campbell was born January 1, 1882, in Honolulu. She was born in the same bedroom of the Emma Street mansion which had been the birthplace of Princess Kaʻiulani. Her father was James Campbell, one of the wealthiest industrialists in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Her mother was part-Hawaiian Abigail Kuaihelani Maipinepine Bright.[1]

She graduated from the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, California, in 1900, when she converted from Anglicanism, religion of her parents, to Roman Catholicism. On January 6, 1902, by virtue of her marriage to Prince David Laʻamea Kahalepouli Kawānanakoa Piʻikoi, she became known as Princess.[2]

Photograph by Theodore C. Marceau

Prince David became one of the heirs to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi upon the death of Princess Victoria Kaʻiulani. Prince David died of pneumonia in 1908. She and Prince David had three children; David Kalākaua Kawānanakoa, Abigail Helen Kapiʻolani Kawānanakoa, and Lydia Liliʻuokalani Kawānanakoa.

With the Prince of Wales, ca. 1920

Upon the death of her brother-in-law, Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole in 1922, Princess Abigail effectively became the leader of all native Hawaiians and took an active part in Hawaiʻi's politics as their advocate. She also assumed the role of heir to the throne as native Hawaiians continued to pray for the return of their sovereignty. Unlike her brother-in-law Prince Kūhiō, Princess Abigail was a devoted Republican and worked to develop its platforms and pursue its ideals. In 1924 she became the Republican national committeewoman for Hawaii and served in that capacity for twelve years. Her prominence on the national stage made Princess Abigail a role model for women in Hawaii.

She died at her Honolulu home on April 12, 1945.[3]

Fiction

She has a short role in Harry Turtledove's novel in Days of Infamy where she is offered the throne of a restored Kingdom of Hawaii. She refuses, not wishing to be a puppet monarch of the Japanese.

In the 1986 Television movie drama Blood & Orchids inspired by the 1932 Massie Trial, a character based on Abigail Campbell Kawānanakoa is not considered historically accurate.[3]

Family tree

References
  1. "James Campbell, Esq" (PDF). James Campbell Company LLC. 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-04-11. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
  2. Hawkins, Richard A. (2003). "Princess Abigail Kawananakoa: the Forgotten Territorial Native Hawaiian Leader". Hawaiian Journal of History. Honolulu: Hawaii Historical Society. 37: 163–177. hdl:10524/354.
  3. Richard A. Hawkins (2003). "Princess Abigail Kawananakoa: the Forgotten Territorial Native Hawaiian Leader". Hawaiian Journal of History. 37. Hawaii Historical Society. pp. 163–177. hdl:10524/354.
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